Designer Rosalba Valentino creates and sells her line of clothing and accessories out of a small studio in the Lovingston Nelson Center, one of five stops along the first ever Nelson Artist Tour on May 14.
Valentino greeted visitors from a seat at her sewing machine, between rolls of fabric and ready-to-wear clothes on racks.
She said the emphasis of her work is recycling and salvaging. Almost all Rosalba Couture designs feature vintage or discarded fabrics the artist has creatively combined with new: “If I’ve done my job right, people don’t really know what’s what.”
Valentino said the problem with the fashion industry is consumers don’t know where their clothes come from or where they go after they’ve worn them out or grown tired of them. Rather than add to the output, she considers it a worthy challenge to give old things new life.
“Just because it’s broken doesn’t make it waste,” Valentino said.
Nellysford painter and ceramic artist Elise Lauterbach also knows about resource and reinvention. That Saturday she stood inside the bright, colorful studio she converted from a neighbor’s windowless science laboratory.
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Lauterbach described her style as “enthusiastic” and was displaying landscapes, domestic scenes and still-life paintings she said “aren’t really still.” Every inch of her studio is covered with wallpaper, bright paint or eclectic décor.
Outside, Faber artist Chris Carter was carving spoons out of butternut and red maple with only a handheld axe. He also brought examples of his colorful barn hex paintings, or geometric stars traditionally painted on barns. Carter described himself as more of a crafter than an artist: “I’m just a guy who loves to make stuff.”
Salena Hitzeman was selling homegrown teas, botanical prints and paintings from her Arrington studio.
She just published her first book, “Free Food Field Guide,” a guidebook for “beginning foragers” featuring information and the artists’ illustrations of local, wild, edible plants.
She said her specialty is natural history illustration, and she has no shortage of inspiration right outside her studio. In 2020, to combat supply chain issues, she provided eggs, produce and fresh-baked bread to all her neighbors within a five-mile radius.
Potters Adam McNeil and Noah Hughley-Commers showcased their wood-fired pottery out of Hughley-Commers’ Lovingston studio. Hughley-Commers apprenticed under Nelson County potter Kevin Crowe who McNeil called the “grandfather of wood firing.” Crowe’s Tye River studio was another stop on the tour.
McNeil said wood-fired pottery is unique in that it doesn’t require an added glaze; wood ash melts into its own watertight seal on any exposed pottery surface. He also said wood-fired pottery is made sturdier to withstand the extremely “harsh environment” of the wood-firing process, creating a functional, longer-lasting product.
The three artists’ designs are distinct but feature a similar color palette of browns, grays and oranges. Crowe said this is because any variations in color come from the pots’ arrangement in the kiln. Different temperatures produce different colors as the wood flames lengthen and interact with the clay.
Crowe started as a glassblower and loved the work but didn’t like the brittleness of glass.
“When I found clay, all the apples lined up,” he said.
Pottery is now a full-time job for Crowe. He travels to teach workshops, builds kilns and takes on apprentices. His own work is inspired by English and Asian aesthetics.
He said becoming any kind of artist is difficult but “you do it because you can’t not do it.” He recommends young artists “keep showing up and saying yes.”
Lauterbach gave similar advice: “If you have a dream, you should try to make it work.”
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First Nelson Artist Tour showcases local talent, creativity - Lynchburg News and Advance
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